Jon Jones says he’s more of a man than Chael Sonnen will ever be

The UFC’s Chael Sonnen has yet to throw a single punch in the Octagon as a light heavyweight but it looks as though he’s already caught the attention of divisional champion Jon Jones. During Sonnen’s recent announcement regarding his move to 205 pounds and match-up with Forrest Griffin he referred to Jones as a “punk”, stating he could take the 25-year old’s gold like candy from a child on Halloween.

Jones apparently did not appreciate Sonnen making a joke at his expense, lashing out on Twitter as a result where he wrote, “The things you say about me hold absolutely no weight. You disrespected Anderson Silvaand his country but fought like a child. If you’re going to disrespect me out of nowhere, at least disrespect me to my face like a man.”

“And you call me a punk? I’m more man than you’ll ever be,” Jones continued. “You’re not worth my time. Earn a title shot instead of trying to talk your way into one and I’ll be glad to hurt you.”

Thanks to the wonders of technology it wasn’t long before Sonnen caught wind of Jones’ statement, wasting little time to offer up a response of his own.

“Boarding plane to Oregon now, home of your corporate wage masters. Next time you are in town, knock on my door. Don’t drive,” said Sonnen, alluding to Jones’ sponsorship deal with Nike and brush with the law for driving under the influence of alcohol.

“You’re an idiot if you think I haven’t heard every DUI joke in the book,” Jones quickly replied. “I applaud the original ones.”

While entertaining, it’s likely the exchange will not lead to a meeting inside the Octagon with both men having their hands full for the foreseeable future and a slew of top contenders lined up for a shot at the light heavyweight belt.

JJ the reason can’t win in a war of words with Sonnen is that he doesn’t care what JJ says back…he doesn’t care what any of us think of him…He knows he’s a cheat, he knows he ratted on his collegues, he knows he lost 2x to Silva… He doesn’t care.

But Jon…Jon cares about what Sonnen says, JJ cares what the fans think when Chael talks about him…and that will never let JJ win a war of words with Cheal… so he shouldn’t even respond.

you got it spot on Rece. If you watch the back and forth between Rashad and Jon, the banter comes naturally to Rashad, he enjoys it, but for Jon Jones you can see it affects him emotionally. he is an intelligent guy, but he should just be an intelligent guy, let it come naturally. i get the feeling he is always trying to convince us how articulate he is

So here is a thought, what if Chael now focusing his troll jobs on JJ has some legitimate meaning to it other than to stir shit up? Everyone knows Chael and Hendo are friends/former training partners and Chael has a man crush on him. Maybe Chael is trying to deprive some of JJ attention and focus away from his fight with Hendo to give the old man any slight advantage possible?

Jones is played so easily, it’s not funny. I guess Chael ruined his special moment.

As far as I can recall, all Chael said was “after Hendo beats him, I’d be happy to clean up whatever is left”. Is Jones ignorant or just stupid; Chael and Hendo are old-time friends. (Chael also bet $5,000 on Hendo to beat Wandy when they fought in PRIDE, so Chael’s respect — and belief in — Dan is not something new or shocking.)

Naturally, Mr. Humble felt disrespected and showed us the proper way to turn the other cheek…. By getting into a Twitter war with a guy who is the Jon Jones of cutting promos and trash-talk; any protracted verbal battle between the two is guaranteed to be as one-sided for Chael as a fight with Jones would be in favour of the current LHW champ.

Jones may claim he knows what he’s doing but when you make the following comment: “dude, you’re not worth my time” and then continue to send more comments on Twitter that just shows Jones doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Maybe he should tattoo another bible verse on himself, so he can be twice as humble.

Actually, he may not have deleted them. For some reason his twitter was not showing replies he sent. They should still be there. (I don’t follow Jones on Twitter, most fighters just RT dumbass fans who have nothing to say except “re post this” and bullshit motivational stuff that wouldn’t cut it on a free fortune cookie.)

You have to click the All option now on anyone who’s verified to see their mention tweets. I looked while it was going on, and basically it was just his responses to his fans talking about chael, but not his tweets to chael.

How can anyone still be interested in Sonnen as a fighter? For one, he is an extremely boring, one-dimensional wrestler. In fact, calling him one-dimensional is probably spotting him in extra half dimension because he is a ground and pound specialist, who is garbage at the “pound” part of the equation.

He needs to retire and get on the mic full-time. When he isn’t using his gift of gab to be a disrespectful toolbag, he is very good in his role as an MMA commentator.

Hopefully Forrest is working on his jab and his triangle choke. If he can do either, he will destroy Sonnen.

Jones immaturity is astounding. Chael made an off the cuff remark about the king of the division he’s moving into and Jon takes it personally? Chael wasn’t even calling out Jones. He was just doing what he does best, hyping Chael Sonnen.
I have to disagree with hindsightufuk, I don’t think Jones is an intelligent guy. I think he’s a well spoken parrot that gets fed lines but lacks the wit to create his own. Now he’s pickinga fight with the undisputed king of verbal warfare? Bad move Jon, better just back out of this one while you still can.

As I mentioned in the other article, I see Jon’s biggest fault being that he’s too sensitive…cares too much what others think…tries to act a certain way at times.

The dude is 25; he’ll figure it out. Not like he’s doing too bad as it is…just some rough edges to smooth out.

Not liking the guy is one thing. There are plenty of fighters I don’t like on a personal level, which makes the sport much more entertaining. But Jones’ cockiness or whatever seems to really get a lot of people bent. I don’t really get it.

@ Richard
“But there’s something to be said in sportsmanship about earning your shot…” Chael Sonnen directly after saying he could take Jones belt.

It’s not so much that Jones bugs me but that I’m force fed this dribble about him being a “superstar” when everything he does or says outside the Octagon is so mind numbingly juvenile or boring. Chael, Tito, B.J., Forrest, Bonnar, Serra, Rashad, even Rampage and Nick Diaz all have that special “it” quality that Jones lacks. I’m not saying Jones isn’t talented in the cage but he’s the MMA equivalent of a Disney Boy Band. And every time he attempts to prove he’s not, just accentuates the fact that he is.

@MCM – “But there’s something to be said in sportsmanship about earning your shot and on 29th of December I’m gonna go through Forrest Griffin to do it.”

Sounds to me like Chael is suggesting he’ll “earn” his title shot by going thru Forrest – the former champion of the division that not even Jon Jones has beaten!! Is that impressing anyone? It’s Chael being Chael, doing what he does best, starting to angle for a title shot by being loud & obnoxious.

As for Jones, you have trouble with the “superstar” tag?

Jon Jones was a relative unknown just 3 years ago, coming off his victory over Jake O’Brien. With his rangy frame & overall skill set he’s a fighter unlike anyone we’ve seen in MMA before. He’s been as durable & busy as any fighter in the UFC, set for his 12th bout (and 4th title defense) since he debuted 4 years ago. No one can accuse him of ever being in a boring fight, and to this point he’s been virtually unchallenged en route to obliterating the top of the LHW division. Anderson freaking Silva wants no part of fighting this guy. The largest global sports brand just made Jones the primary frontman for MMA.

In other words, Jon Jones represents better than anyone the latest & greatest evolution of the sport.

Whatever stylistic (sh)it quality he lacks compared to the Titos and Chaels and Rampages, he makes up for with substance many times over. Yeah the showmanship is a nice complement but let’s keep things in proper order.

Oh well, sick of talking about it and anxious to see him & Dan go at it. As others have suggested, it’s impossible not to love Hendo. I just don’t see him being able to get inside the range of Jones without being punished & ultimately defeated. But it’ll be fun watching it play out.

@richard,
I don’t have a problem with how he fights or what he’s accomplished in the cage. I thought I made it clear that it’s all the crap outside the cage (i.e. commercials, tv appearances, twitter posts, news conferences, interviews etc.) that makes me think this guy is only one step removed from being a Backstreet Boy.